Motivations - Power Control

Joseph James DeAngelo, known as the "Golden State Killer," became one of the most infamous serial offenders in American history after committing a series of murders, rapes, and burglaries across California between 1974 and 1986. A former police officer, DeAngelo evaded identification for more than 40 years before investigators used investigative genetic genealogy to identify and arrest him in 2018. His case transformed modern criminal investigations and demonstrated the power of forensic DNA technology in solving long-unsolved crimes.

John Reginald Halliday Christie became one of the United Kingdom's most infamous serial killers after murdering multiple women, including his wife, at his home in Notting Hill, London, during the 1940s and early 1950s. His crimes, committed at 10 Rillington Place, led to one of Britain's greatest miscarriages of justice when Timothy Evans was wrongly convicted and executed before Christie's guilt was uncovered. The case remains one of the most significant in British criminal history.

Ian Duncan Stewart Brady became one of the United Kingdom's most infamous serial killers after carrying out the Moors Murders with Myra Hindley between 1963 and 1965. The pair murdered five children and concealed several victims on Saddleworth Moor, creating one of the most notorious criminal cases in British history. Regarded as the dominant figure in the partnership, Brady spent the remainder of his life imprisoned and became a symbol of extreme criminality in the United Kingdom.

Myra Hindley became one of the United Kingdom's most notorious child killers after participating in the Moors Murders with Ian Brady between 1963 and 1965. Together, they abducted, sexually assaulted, tortured, and murdered five children before burying several victims on Saddleworth Moor in northern England. Hindley's role in the murders, coupled with her decades of denied parole and widespread public hatred, cemented her place as one of Britain's most reviled criminals.

Moses Sithole became one of Africa's most prolific serial killers after murdering at least 38 young women in and around Johannesburg, South Africa, between 1994 and 1995. Known as the "ABC Killer" because many of the murders occurred in Atteridgeville, Boksburg, and Cleveland, Sithole lured victims with false promises of employment before sexually assaulting and murdering them. His case shocked post-apartheid South Africa and remains one of the country's deadliest serial murder investigations.

Edmund Emil Kemper III, known as the "Co-ed Killer," became one of America's most notorious serial killers after murdering ten people between 1964 and 1973, including his grandparents, six female college students, his mother's friend, and finally his own mother. His intelligence, willingness to discuss his crimes in detail, and extensive interviews with FBI profilers made him one of the most extensively studied serial killers in criminal psychology.

Robert Black Farmer became one of Australia’s most notorious child killers after the 2008 murder of 18-year-old Lauren Huxley on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Prosecutors alleged Farmer abducted Lauren as she walked home from a night out before sexually assaulting and murdering her, triggering one of the largest and most publicized homicide investigations in Queensland history. The case generated national outrage because of Lauren’s age, the predatory nature of the attack, and the extensive manhunt that followed. Investigators later uncovered forensic evidence linking Farmer to the crime, while media coverage focused heavily on his criminal history and escalating pattern of sexual offending. The murder remains one of the most infamous stranger-abduction killings in modern Australian criminal history.

Dr. Robert Bierenbaum became one of New York’s most infamous domestic killers after being convicted in the murder of his wife, Gail Katz, in a case widely known as “The Private Pilot Wife Disappearance.” A respected plastic surgeon and licensed private pilot, Bierenbaum was accused of killing Gail in 1985 before disposing of her body in a manner prosecutors argued exploited his aviation knowledge and access to aircraft. The case generated enormous public attention because Gail Katz vanished without a trace, leaving investigators with no body and little physical evidence for years. Prosecutors later argued Bierenbaum murdered his wife during escalating marital conflict before flying her body out over the Atlantic Ocean and disposing of it from a private aircraft. The combination of professional status, aviation-related body disposal allegations, and decades-long mystery made the case one of the most heavily discussed no-body homicide prosecutions in New York criminal history.